A noun a word that can be used to refer to a person, place or thing. As we have already seen, nouns are important because they can serve as the subject or object of a verb. The subject is the "doer" of the sentence, while the object is the "receiver" of the action:

In its simplest and lightest form, a noun phrase can be:

• a simple pronoun (it, they, we)
• a noun (processes)
• an article or other determiner + noun (a process, the process, this process)

Nouns come in three forms noncount, count (can have a singular and plural forms) and proper (names of people and places) nouns. Nouns are also special in that they can occur with definite ('the') and indefinite ('a', 'an') articles.

Noncount noun heat is the transfer of internal energy from one region to another. Singular count noun The Earth acts like a greenhouse. Plural count noun Greenhouses work by trapping heat from the sun. Proper noun The Earth acts like a greenhouse.

As you have probably already noticed, nouns rarely occur by themselves, but instead come in groups which we call Noun phrases (NPs). In academic writing, many NPs can be very complex and long, as the writer attempts to define and narrow the meaning of the "head noun". NPs are typically modified by adjectives, gentive forms (-'s or of), relative clauses (clauses introduced by that, which or who), prepositional phrases (clauses introduced by prepositions like to, from, on, at or in), other nouns (noun compounds, e.g. school parking area) or NPs can be created from gerunds (-ing forms).

Adjective + noun Global warming results primarily from the release of heat-trapping gases. of-genitive The temperature of the earth has increased by about 0.6°C. Prepositional phrase Global warming will bring about a rise in temperature and other major changes. -ing Gerund Selecting the right data storage system is no easy task. Relative clause CO2 is a greenhouse gas that traps the Sun's radiation within the troposphere. Noun compound Automobile exhaust fumes lead to ozone generation.

Head Nouns (substantiivilausekkeet)

A "head noun" is the main noun that is modified by other elements in a noun phrase. It is important that you can find head nouns, because this allows you determine whether the phrase can take an indefinite article (if the head noun is a noncount noun, then it cannot occur with 'a' or 'an'). Similarly, knowing the location of the head noun also allows you to ensure that the noun properly agrees in number with the verb.

Test yourself! Find and click on the head nouns in the NPs in the text below.

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